Kawasaki Halloween parade | KANAGAWA

Kawasaki Halloween Parade – As Halloween has its origin in my home country (Ireland), I have observed Halloween in Japan with interest! They don’t celebrate it like at home: there is no trick-or-treat or Halloween night bonfires; but they do mark the event and celebrate it in different ways. Parades are quite common and popular.

Kawasaki Halloween Parade

This year, for the first time since I came in 2000, I went to a Halloween Parade. There were a number of parades over the weekend past, 25th & 26th October, but we met new friends at the one in Kawasaki. Kawasaki is a city on the Tokyo side of Kanagawa, a 10 minute train ride from Tokyo JR’s Shinagawa train station.

Happy Halloween!

The parade started at 2.30 pm and supposedly had around 3,000 participants. There were a lot of witches and pumpkin girls, but what’s halloween without them! If you are looking for a Halloween costume idea for this Friday, you might be inspired by some of the below!:

Halloween costumes at the Parade

Japanese Jack Sparrow look-a-like

Japanese Jack Sparrow

Dream girls:

Japanese

Trekkies?:

No parade in Japan would be complete without some Disney and Anime characters:

Pumpkin Themed Halloween Costumes

Parade Information

The Kawasaki Halloween Parade is the largest in Japan. The area of Kawasaki also runs several other events for Halloween annually and Kawasaki Halloween is reputed as Japan’s largest Halloween event.

The Kawasaki Halloween Parade is held every year (all things being equal) in the month of October. Over the years since I last visited, Halloween Kawasaki has become more than just a parade and is now Japan’s largest Halloween festival.

There are over twelve Halloween events held in the area each year, from kids friendly Halloween activities, to DJ performances, haunted house, a Rocky Horror Show, Halloween Bazaar and several more seasonal events. The number of people who attend has also grown significantly since my last visit.